Taro / Satoimo (Sato-Imo) Crop Prospects in Indonesia

By Ahmad Suhendra

On a national basis, taro is a very minor crop in Indonesia. It is much less important than rice, maize, soybean, cassava, peanut, mung bean or sweet potato. It is not surprising, therefore, that there are very few statistics available on Indonesian taro production and utilization.[1]

Early presence of  Taro/Satoimo  in Indonesia is on the Japanese occupation. Taro in Toraja society is known by the name " Talas Bithek", and in Buleleng Bali is known as "Talas Salak " because its clumps of tubers such as skin snake fruits (Salak) [3]

Taro does not require specific growing conditions. These plants can grow in different soil types with different soil conditions such as wetlands or dry land, so this plant would be grown in all regions in Indonesia.

Classification [5]
Kingdom : Plantae
    Order : Alismatales
         Family : Araceae
             Subfamily : Aroideae
                  Tribe : Colocasieae
                      Genus :Colocasia
                           Species : C. esculenta (L.) Schott

                               Variety : esculenta 
Trinominal name : Colocasia esculenta esculenta 

Ecology and Physiology [1]

• Taro plants have a high requirement for moisture for their production. Normally, rainfall or irrigation of 1,500-2,000 mm is required for optimum yields.
• Taro requires an average daily temperature above 21ºC (21ºC-27ºC [4]) for normal production. It cannot tolerate frosty conditions. Partly because of its temperature sensitivity, taro is essentially a lowland crop . (Yields at high altitudes tend to be poor). In Papua New Guinea, for example, the maximum elevation for taro cultivation is 2,700 m.
• The highest yields for taro are obtained under full intensity sunlight. However, they appear to be more shade-tolerant than most other crops.
• Taro does best in soil of pH 5.5-6.5. It is able to form beneficial associations with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae, which therefore facilitate nutrient absorption.
• One particularly useful characteristic of taro is that some cultivars are able to tolerate salinity. Indeed, in Japan and Egypt, taro has been used satisfactorily as a first crop in the reclamation of saline soils (Kay, 1973). This definitely opens up the possibility for the use of taro to exploit some difficult ecologies where other crops might fail.

Market opportunities

Currently in Japan, requires Taro/Satoimo about 360,000 tons per year (Otsubo, 1996), while the production capacity in Japan only 250,000 tons per year, due to limited land and climatic factors that are not allowed to farm throughout the year (JETRO, 1994). Satoimo supply shortage is the bulk imported from China to Japan, which reached approximately 55,000-60,000 tons (Japan Imports / Exports). Therefore, Japan still lacks satoimo supply about 40,000-45,000 tons per year. Indonesia has the potential to meet the shortfall to Japan, because Indonesia is an agrarian country with two seasons that can support agricultural activities throughout the year.[3]

Note :

When the Taro/Satoimo is cultivated properly it will produce about 30 tons / hectare and harvest at the age of 5-6 months or viewed from the leaves begin to turn yellow and wilt.[4]

Ref:

1.FAO: Taro cultivation in Asia and the Pacific, 1999

2.http://www.justhungry.com/how-cook-taro-root-or-satoimo

3.http://usahaku.weebly.com/satoimo.html

4.http://tanamanpangan.deptan.go.id/doc_upload/Talas.pdf
5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro